Peter Lauer - Riesling Saarfeilser Grosses Gewächs (GG) Fass 13 2024 (750ml)
Price: $68.99
| Producer | Peter Lauer |
| Country | Germany |
| Region | Mosel-Saar-Ruwer |
| Varietal | Riesling |
| Vintage | 2024 |
| Sku | 206702 |
| Size | 750ml |
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Peter Lauer Description
Florian’s general style is exactly the opposite of his famous Saar neighbor Egon Müller. At Lauer, the focus is on dry-tasting Rieslings as opposed to the residual sugar wines of the latter. For this style, there are really only two addresses in the Saar (though more come online every year, trying to chase the style): Lauer and Hofgut Falkenstein.
Employing natural-yeast fermentations, Lauer’s wines find their own balance. They tend to be more textural, deeper and more broad-shouldered. They have a preternatural sense of balance, an energy that is singular. Yet the hallmarks of the Saar are there: purity, precision, rigor, mineral.
Florian’s playground is the breathtaking hillside of the Kupp, pictured at the top of the page, with a map of the area directly above. Though the many vineyards of this mountain were unified (obliterated?) under the single name “Kupp” with the 1971 German wine law, it has been Florian’s life’s work to keep the old vineyard names alive, to keep these voices alive. He has been fighting this fight since his first vintage in 2005 and only with an update to the law in 2014 can he now legally use the older vineyard names such as Unterstenberg, Stir, Kern and Neuenberg.
Florian fought the law, and he won.
In addition to the expanses of the Kupp, Lauer farms three other important sites, Feils, directly across the river, and the precipitous, cliff-vineyard Schonfels, a bit upstream from the other two sites and, finally, the once-famous Lambertskirch, just a stone’s throw from Schonfels. This was a site with a huge reputation in the 19th and mid-20th century, yet it was abandoned. Lauer cleared the site and replanted it himself.
Lauer, in the end, makes the driest-tasting Kabinetts around, period. Among the lightest and most petite of Kupp Kabinetts in a long while – damn.
Feils is the vineyard name of one of the three Grand Cru dry wines that Florian Lauer produces – the other two are Kupp and Schonfels. Note in German these are called “Grosses Gewächs,” translating to “great growth.” You should be able to find on the labels the letters “GG,” denoting the fact they are “Grand Cru” and dry.
Feils is a unique site for the Saar in a number of ways. First, you’ll note looking at the map that Feils is a site that rests right up against the Saar River. Unlike the Mosel, where most of the great sites (at least historically speaking) cling to the river and benefit from the temperature control the river provides, in the Saar, most of the sites run perpendicular to the river. Which is to say, they are not so affected by the warmth the river generates. The Feils (along with sites like Wiltinger Gottesfuss, etc) is unique in its rather direct relationship with the river. Second, because the river pushes up against and flows around the vineyard, the site has a good amount of alluvial soil, especially toward the bottom. Yes, there is slate here, but it is not the only soil type.
Feils is a warm site; it is also sneakily steep. Convex like a spoon, the vineyard begins mildly as you walk through it heading down to the river. However, as one reaches center-slope the incline becomes quite severe. In the pictures in the gallery, you can see the roundness and dip of the site – especially in the second picture. The lowest third of the vineyard is extremely steep.
The wine this site produces is one of the most textural and luscious of the GGs; from the beginning it can show a rather broad range of fruit and spice. It also tends to drink earlier than Lauer’s other GGs, though obviously this can change vintage to vintage.
Wine Advocate: 92 Points
Lauer's 2024 Saarfeilser GG No. 13 opens deep, elegant and bright, with a citrusy, floral nose and juicy fruit aromas intertwined with a hint of slate. Full-bodied, elegant and dry on the palate, with ripe acidity and comparatively warm fruit, this is an almost creamy Riesling with a fruity, slightly bitter finish and good length.
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